The latest Bloomberg Businessweek offers us the following:
In today’s bad economy lottery ticket sales have become an increasingly important source of revenue for public officials trying to plug gaps in their budgets. “You have politicians not wanting to raise taxes right now,” says David G. Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, “so lotteries are good ways to raise money.”
… Lottery income decreased nationwide in 2009 for the first time in more than a decade, prompting many of the 43 states that operate lotteries to redouble their efforts to win back players. This year, 26 of them saw revenues increase, and total sales were up 3 percent, to $56 billion, according to LaFleur’s, a lottery research company in Rockville, Md. Record sales were posted in 16 states besides Arizona. In 2010 the state borrowed $450 million against future lottery revenues to help close a $3 billion budget deficit.
Officials across the country are now debating measures meant to bring in even more money. Tennessee requires that players pay with cash to play the numbers, but lawmakers on the Senate Lottery Stabilization Task Force may let its lottery ticket sellers accept credit and debit cards. In New Jersey, Democratic Assemblywoman Annette Quijano has introduced a bill to clear the way for sales on smartphones.
Why is this a bad idea? Jon Sanders has a few thoughts on the topic.
